Dead Space: Hope for Tomorrow
by Battle Damage
Summary: *Sequel to The Equestrian Incident* How long must this go on for? How long must the killing and destruction go on for? The Necromorphs may have brought death to the Equestrians. But the Humans have brought worse. When strange things start to happen, the ponies of Equestria turn to the now retired CommanderAlexander James Styx.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

History does not remember you for who you are. It remembers you for what you stand for, and what you're willing to sacrifice for it. History does not remember you for who you love, only who you hate. It doesn't care about what you sacrificed, only that you sacrificed it. More often than not, it asks you to sacrifice your humanity for these things. It asks you to let yourself die as a human, only to be reborn a hero. People are always wanting to be the hero, but they never figure out that they have to give up everything until it's too late. Saving the world once is never enough. You have to do it again and again and again. I just want it to end. I just want a normal life now, but I guess I can't have that now that I've saved Equestria again. Everyone has their breaking points. I never knew what mine was. I always thought I could do it forever. I was wrong. I don't want to be the hero anymore. I just want to sit down and watch my kids grow up...

... Luna... don't let history remember me as a hero, because that is not what I am. I was just a man caught up with the events and making the best of them. I'm sorry Luna... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't be there... I'm sorry for so many things. I'm sorry I... I... I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for. I know... I know that if I keep this up I will die. It's not a question of if, but when. I'm not scared though... and that's what scares me the most. The fact that I'm not scared of death. That you could hold a gun to my head and I just simply wouldn't give a damn. Luna... you gave me my humanity back, showed me that life was worth living. History will remember me a hero, and not what I was... a broken man. That's all I ever was... a broken man. But you helped put me back together again. Luna... if you ever find this... don't let them label me a hero, tell them the real story. Tell them my story... our story.

Commander Alexander James Styx's personal journal. Unknown date.

Location: Everfree Forest/ Equestria

A single figure sat in the back of the concrete building, watching as six clones, an Ensign, and a Lieutenant got the Land Reconnaissance Vehicles or LRV for short, ready for deployment. The figure wore a black skintight suit. On the suit was sleek, armor plates that was painted a midnight blue. This was the famous Commander Alexander James Styx, Hero of the fight for New Jersey, Washington D.C., Stalingrad, and Equestria. He wasn't overly tall for a human, about 5'10". Getting up, he limped over towards the LRVs.

"Almost done sir." one of the clone said as he loaded one of the gun turrets with ammo. The LRV was pretty much a bulletproof dune buggy with no windows. It was could carry three people. A driver, a gunner, and a rear facing passenger to fire the rear mounted gun turret. It also had two baskets on either side that was supposed to be for carrying supplies, but was just as useful for carrying extra team members. Alex climbed into the driver's seat of the one nearest him. .

"Ready sir." the clone said as he slammed the hood down. Alex sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. 'I'm coming home.' he thought to himself as he started the engine.

Location: Canterlot/ Equestria

A lone pony walked down the corridor, her head down as she stared at the floor. The pony was a midnight blue and she was taller than most other ponies. There were only two things that separated her from most other ponies other than her height. The first was that she had both wings and a horn. The other was that she was a princess. But she wasn't just any princess; she was the princess of the moon. She was Princess Luna, Co-ruler of Equestria, and she was responsible for controlling the moon, while her sister, Princess Celestia, controlled the sun.

But right now she certainly didn't feel like a princess. Her husband, Commander Alexander James Styx was dead. She was extremely depressed, and often times she thought about ending it all. But there was only one little thing that kept her from doing so. It was actually several little something's. She looked up as she heard the sound of laughter. What she saw made her smile. She saw two foals running towards her. One was an alicorn filly with a bright red coat, an orange mane, and golden eyes; this one was Nova. The other was a alicorn colt with a midnight blue coat like Luna's, a gold mane, and ultramarine colored eyes; this one was Eclipse. These two foals were the only light in her otherwise miserable day. Sitting on her haunches, she spread her arms and caught both of them in a hug. These two foals were Luna's entire world. For they were hers and nothing in Equestria would ever change that.

"Come dearies, your mother has very important things to do." said a servant that was tasked with watching them whenever Alex or Luna couldn't.

"That is quite alright, we do not anything else planned for the rest of the day." Luna told the servant. The servant bowed respectively and slowly backed away. Standing up, Luna placed both of the foals on her back and trotted towards her and their room. Entering the twins' room she placed them down and they immediately started to chase each other. They couldn't fly, not yet, so they took running around. She watched them for about twenty minutes before turned around and walked into her room. Her room was dark. The walls were painted a dark blue, that was several shades lighter than her coat. The only light being provided by a lamp on either side of the bed. The ceiling though was what Luna loved about her room the most. On the ceiling was a beautifully painted crescent moon and various constellations that glowed slightly. .

Luna ignored this though and walked towards the dresser that sat near the back of the room. She picked up a photo off the dresser and walked back to her bed. She layed down and stared at it for several minutes, as she did she started to cry silently. She hugged the photo tightly to chest and stared at the ceiling. The photo was of Alex's and Luna's wedding ceremony four years ago.

"I-I-I d-don't know what to do anymore." she sobbed. After several more minutes of crying she made up her mind. Her horn started to glow and she floated several objects to her.

Location Canterlot/ Equestria

Celestia trotted swiftly down the hallways. Normally she would say hello to any of the ponies she came across but not right now. But it was getting late and it was approaching time for her to raise her moon. Like her younger sister, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia was an alicorn. But there were a couple differences between her and her sister. The first being that Celestia was older than her sister by about seven years. Though to an immortal race such as alicorns, seven years meant nothing. There was also the fact that Celestia was taller than her sister Luna, not by much though. Also, Princess Celestia was a stark white in contrast to Luna's midnight blue. As Celestia approached her little sister's room, she started to get an odd feeling in her stomach.

"Luna?" Princess Celestia asked but got no response.

"Lulu, are you okay?" Celestia asked, using the pet nickname from when they were fillies. Like, last time there was no response.

"Lulu, I'm coming in." the princess said. She opened the door to a very dark room. It took several moments for her eyes to get used to the darkness. Taking a hesitant step into her sister's room, Celestia looked around. She spotted a figure lying on the bed.

"Sister?" Celestia asked as she approached the figure. She layed a hoof on the figure and took a closer look. It was her sister Luna. As Celestia stepped closer her hoof stepped in something wet, warm, and sticky. Looking down, she stared at the puddle of liquid until something in her head clicked.

"LUNA!" Princess Celestia screamed. As both Luna's and Celestia' guards entered the room to inspect what had caused such a reaction, they saw Celstia's horn glow yellow and both her, and Princess Luna disappeared. Both sets of guards stepped into the room to investigate. As one of Celestia's guards approached the side of the bed where princess Celestia had been standing, he stepped in something warm, wet, and sticky. Looking at it, it took the guard a minute to figure out what it was.

Blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I remember when I was young, probably only about ten at the time, I was given a book by an old man. I remember that he was a priest for some centuries old religion. Now I never was a religious man, I never had a single religious bone in my body, but I liked to talk to the priest. He was kind, patient, and would bestow his knowledge on anyone that would listen. Unfortunately they only person that would listen was a ten year old city boy. But he didn't care. The priest was middle aged and never had any kids of his own. I guess I was the closest thing he had to a son. I spent more time with him at his church than I did at home. He would teach me how to cook a decent meal, how to start a fire, and so many other things. I'm getting off topic. The book was old, but well maintained. It wasn't a data-pad book either. It was an honest to god leather bound book. I still have it to. I remember you asking me if you could read it, I told you, 'Luna, after this is all over I will.'

There was one part in the book that stood out the most to me. It went, 'In our darkest moment, is when the light inside us shines brightest.' The one thing that bothers me, is that how do you know it's your darkest moment. How do you know when you've hit rock bottom when you can't see the ground or feel anything?

Commander Alexander James Styx. Personal Journal. May 3, 2524

Location: Canterlot Medical Center/ Equestria

Date:

Princess Celestia sat in front of the unconscious form of her sister, waiting for her to wake up. The doctors had said that Luna would be fine and would make a full recovery. But it seemed that she would never wake up. There was almost nothing wrong with Princess Luna, except that she had bandages that were wrapped around her fore hooves. Hearing the door open, Celestia turned to see Princess Cadence, her daughter Little Star, and Luna's foals, enter the room.

"Auntie Tia!" Little Star cried happily as she ran towards Celestia, followed by the two alicorn foals, who though were too young to speak, ran towards the sun princess with just as much enthusiasm. As they approached her Princess Celestia kneeled down and hugged them. She stood up and gave a warm smile to her niece, Princess Cadence.

"Good morning Cadence." Celestia said as she sat back down.

"What's wrong with Auntie Luna?" Little Star asked as she cautiously approached Princess Luna.

"She's... very sick right now Little Star." Princess Celestia replied. She was about to say more when a letter appeared in front of her. Catching it with her magic, Celestia unrolled it and read over it quickly. It was a letter from Twilight Sparkle, who still, after all these years, kept sending her weakly letters.

"Why?" she heard Cadence ask as she walked towards the bed.

"I think you know why." Celestia replied as she helped Nova climb onto the bed.

"I just don't want to believe she would do such a thing. I mean... it's just... It's just not fair." Cadence said as she shook her head. Celestia got up and sat down next to her niece.

"I know... and I feel the same way. Out of all of us, I think Luna deserves happiness the most." Celestia replied as she watched Nova climb onto her mother's stomach and lay down. She felt something brush up against her leg. Looking down she saw Eclipse looking up at her with pleading eyes. Smiling, she picked him up in her hooves.

"I hope Ordo's right..." Cadence began, "Because if he isn't..." Cadence looked at Luna.

Location: Everfree Forest/ Equestria

Alex drove through the forest as fast as he could. Behind him sat the front facing clone gunner, and behind him sat a rear facing Ensign Glenn. Sitting next to him in the basket was another clone and on the other side was a clone to. Behind their LRV was another that carried everyone else. About a dozen yards in front of him was about four Unitologists driving several ATVs. As he swerved around a tree, he came back around to see one of the Unitologists aiming a Contact Beam at them.

"Shit!" He yelled as he swerved again. The greenish yellow laser missed them but the resulting explosion flipped the LRV. Alex was thrown out of the vehicle as was everybody else. Getting up, Alex saw that the LRV had thankfully had landed on its tires. Alex limped towards it and as he approached it he grabbed a clone by the arm.

"Private," Alex said to the clone, "I need you to drive."

"But I'm shot sir!" the clone replied as he held the side of his chest.

"We've all been fucking shot! Now shut up and drive!" Alex yelled. The clone climbed into the LRV as Alex got into the basket. As soon as everyone was in, the LRV took off. As bullets pinged off the windshield in front of the driver, Alex saw spider web cracks start to form. Before he could do anything the glass shattered and hit the clone's unprotected face. The clone immediately let go of the wheel and held his face, screaming as copious amounts of blood seeping through his fingers.

"Keep your foot on the pedal!" Alex yelled as he leaned over and grabbed the wheel. "Keep your fucking foot on the pedal!"

They reached a clearing and drove into it. It was a large clearing, probably about the size of a football field. As they drove across it, a large shadow covered the field. Alex ignored this, keeping his eyes forward he concentrated on driving. Suddenly there was an explosion and the Unitologist ATV in front of them exploded. .

"Brake! Brake! Brake!" he yelled and the clone, still holding his face, complied. As the LRV came to a halt, his vision started to fade, and it became hard to concentrate. Looking down, he saw that the bandage around his leg had come loose and he had been bleeding all over the basket seat. He felt someone grab him and pull him out of the basket. He would have struggled but he didn't have the energy to. Looking up he saw two medics dragging him to a waiting gunship.

"Stay awake sir." he heard one of the medics say. "Come on sir, let me see those eyes of yours."

The medic continued to talk to him, keeping him awake. As the two medics set him down and began their work, the others all staggered aboard.

Location: Saddle Arabia

Movie Star stood in front of the row of twelve humans. Of course Movie Star wasn't her actual name. She was human, about 6'1", had a model's physique, bright red hair, and lovely green eyes. Many did not agree with the career choice she had made, but she was one of the top 100 of the wealthiest people in the galaxy. She was a mercenary, a very expensive mercenary. She had finished a job about two weeks ago in the lower levels of Manhattan, when a man had called her. He had asked her if she would take a job to take out two children, two nonhuman children. Movie Star knew that a job like this would eventually come along. When she had first heard of the Equestrians, she had been in a bar drinking whiskey.

Normally, Movie Star wouldn't take a job against children but the man had offered four times her usual fee, and would supply the men. The odd part with this thought was that the man had told her she didn't have to succeed.

"This is your target." she said as she handed out photos of the targets. "Does everyone remember the plan?"

The twelve men nodded.

"Then go, and may Altman protect you." she told the Unitologist. She wasn't a believer herself, but it might make a difference if any of the radicals made it through alive.

Several Days Later

Location: Canterlot Medical Center/ Equestria

Alex slowly walked through the halls of the medical center, limping as gracefully as he could manage. Doctor's and patients alike stood aside to let him through. He had been told by the medics that he wasn't supposed to put pressure on it, but he wanted, no he needed to see Luna. To ask her why. As he approached her room, he started to feel nervous. He slowly opened the door to see blood all over tha walls and Luna's ravaged body in the middle of it all. With several Lurkers standing over her. Alex blinked and shook his head and the image disappeared. In its place was a normal hospital room with Luna laying down on an immaculate bed. Both her fore hooves were covered in bandages and she had an IV sticking out of her left fore hoof. In the corner sat a maid pegasus pony who held a sleeping Nova. Eclipse was curled up by his mother's side.

"Pr-Prince Alexander," The maid started. (He married a princess that makes him a prince in my book.) "I-I hadn't realized..."

"It is quite alright. You may leave." he replied. The maid nodded, handed Nova over to him, bowed, and then left. Nova, waking up from the movement, looked up and saw her father. She gazed at him with wide eyes. She then threw her hooves around his neck and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

"Yes sweetheart, daddies home." he whispered as she fell back asleep. Setting her down, Alex walked over to Luna's bedside, lifter her up, sat down, and layed her back down so her head was resting in his lap.

"Why?" he asked as he stroked her mane. "Why would you do this?" he asked again. He had found out what had happened from Princess Cadence first, then Celestia. Alex was shocked when he first heard, he couldn't, didn't want to believe, that Luna, his Luna would do something like this. As he continued to stroke her mane, he noticed that she was opening her eyes.

"A-Alex?" he heard her ask.

"I'm here Luna... I'm here." Alex replied. Luna threw her arms around Aex and buried her head in his chest. "I missed you! I missed you so much!" she cried as she gripped him tighter.

"Why Luna?"

"What?"

"Why did you do it Luna?" Alex asked as he pulled off one of Luna's hooves and held it in front of him.

"Alex I... I'm sorry." Luna whispered as a tear fell down her face.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I thought you would have a little more faith." Alex told her as he let go of her hoof.

"It's just... I thought… you..." Luna devolved into tears as she hugged Alex tighter, afraid to let him go. Alex spent the night with Luna in the hospital, waiting for the doctors to let her go. As soon as she was released from the hospital, they spent the rest of the day wandering around the castle, the twins spent the day with Princess Celestia.

"I see someone found my necklace." Alex said as they entered the courtyard.

"Ordo found it in the forest." Luna said as she blushed. She used her magic to take it off so she could give it to Alex. "No... it looks better on you." he told her with a kiss. They both sat down on the grass and Luna leaned into him. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. Slowly the moon was raised and the sun was lowered.

"You know I love you right?" Alex asked.

"Isn't that why you married me?" Luna asked with a kiss.

"No, I married you because you were a pony princess from another world." He replied as he kissed her back. Luna got up and sat down in Alex's lap.

"Then I married you because you were an alien soldier who had to be put to stud." Luna said as she rubbed his chest.

"Then let's see just how well I do..."

**A/N: Okay people how am I doing so far? There are several references to various movies in this chapter, try and find them.**

***Hint: One of them's Black Hawk Down.***


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: I know short chapter but don't shit your pants okay? You expect me to have 2,000+ word chapters every time. I have a life and things to do. Also I really didn't care about the grammar for this one... I was tired. **

When will this all stop? When will the Unitoligists realize that I don't  
care anymore? That I just want to sit down and live the rest of my life in peace?

Former Commander Alexander James Styx.

Location: Canterlot/ Equestria

Alex woke up in the middle of the night. Sitting up, he rubbed his bare arms to get the blood flowing. He could feel the grass beneath and this confused him for a minute. Then he remembered what had happened earlier. As he breathed a sigh he wrinkled his nose. The area smelled of sex. Standing up, Alex pulled on his shirt and pants. He gathered Luna in his arms and carried her back to their room. Opening the door he stepped inside and gently layed Luna on the bed. Walking to the other side he sat down, kicked off his boots, and layed in bed. Feeling something brushup against his side, Alex turned to see Luna staring at him with half closed eyes and a slight smile.

"Ready to go again?" she whispered into his ear.

"Since when have I ever said no?"

Alex woke up a few of hours later, feeling extremely tired. He looked over to see Luna was still asleep and had a smile on her face. Alex tried to remember when was the last time they had gone at it like that and all he could think of was the honeymoon. Getting out of bed Alex took a shower, got dressed, and stepped out onto the balcony. It was still dark but Luna would have to get up soon if she was going to lower the moon like she normally did. As Alex stepped back inside, he wrinkled his nose. The entire room completely reeked of the smell of sex. Kissing Luna on the forehead, Alex stepped out and into the hallway. He walked towards the dining room, actually it was more of a dining hall than a room. Entering it, he saw Celestia was already seated at the table with a cup of steaming coffee hovering in front of her.

"Good morning princess." Alex said as he took a seat.

"Good morning." Princess Celestia grumbled. Despite being the ruler of the sun, she was certanly not a morning pony. When he was finished, Alex stood up and headed towards his office.

"Commander!" a voice called out. Turning around he saw Ensign Glenn catching up to him.

"Good morning Ensign." Alex replied as he continued to walk down the hallway.

"So I heard you had a little fun 'fun' last night sir.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Alex replied with a slight blush.

"Oh come on sir. Half the castle probably heard you two... or more  
specifically Luna."

"Listen Ensign," Alex said as he stepped aside. "Do I ever ask about you and Vinyl?"

"No sir." Glenn replied, confused.

"That's because I am still your superior officer and you will treat me as such."

"Yes sir!"

"Until the moment I either fucking drop dead, or I retire, you treat me as such. As soon as I'm retired I will be more than happy to tell you such things."

"Yes sir..." the Ensign said and then walked away.

"A little hard on him weren't you sir?" Alex heard Captain Ordo ask from behind him. Turning around, Alex saw Ordo standing behind him.

"No, I don't... oh I have something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it sir?"

"I want you to take over as CINCSECNINE."

"Woah, woah, woah, sir..."

"Look I know what you're about to say but look at it this way. Ensign  
Glenn's still an Ensign, a lot of the other guys don't want to take the  
job, and countless other reasons."

"But there are more qualified-"

"Like Hell they're more qualified! Most of those 'more qualified' guys and girls have either fired a shot at anything other than a paper cutout for target practice, or have been sitting at a desk their entie career. Niether of those qualities I want."

"Fine sir. You got me."

"Thanks, I apreciate it." Alex said as he turned to leave but remembered something Luna told him. "Hey Ordo?"

"You really should ask Princess Celestia to go out with you."

"What!? How? I..."

"How did I know? Let's just call it a hunch."

Later That Day

Alex walked down the hallway, accompanied by a small squad of royal guardponies and the twins. Nova was on his shoulders, while Eclipse was pestering one of the guards. They were on there way to meet Luna for a night out. They were at the entrance to the castle when they saw thirteen humans walking through and into the castle. They were dressed normally but they seemed to give off an odd aura that set Alex on edge. The guards seemed to have the same feeling because four of the eight guards moved so that they stood in front of Alex and the twins. The group of humans stood aside and lt the orhers through. Theone that stood aout the most was a woman who wore a white, skintight, leather outfit. She had red hair that fell to her shoulders and green eyes.

"Good evening." she said. Her voice was the only ordinary thing about her.

"Hello ma'am." Alex replied bfore continuing on. As they aproached the gates they were greeted by Luna and two others. When they were closer Alex saw the other two was a lavender unicorn amd the other was a buttercup yellow with pink hair.

"Twilight! Fluttershy!" Alex said. "It's been awhile."

Fluttershy immediately turned and hid behind Twilight. Fluttershy had been scared of pretty much everything. Before the Necromorphs she had been scared of everything up to and including her own shadow. She peeked around Twilight and as soon as she saw the foals she flew forward and hugged the two foals in a tight hug.

"Oh you two are so adorable!" Fluttershy said. Eclipse struggled to get out of her grip, while Nova seemed to be content to let Fluttershy cuddle her.

"Is everypony ready?" Princess Luna asked. After a series of affirmatives, they all headed off towards the Canterlot Gardens. Normally the Canterlot Gardens would be closed at this time, but there was advantages of being part of the royal familly. There was a new addition to the gardens that had been under construction for the last couple of months. As they entered the gardens, Luna saw something hanging from Alex's thigh.

"Why did you bring that?" Luna whispered.

"I always take it with me."

"Next time can you please leave it at the castle?"

"Yes love." Alex replied. They walked down the path, Luna leaning against Alex, as they watched Twilight and Fluttershy with the foals.

"We should do this more often." Luna said.

"Alone or with the foals?"

"Both." Luna replied.

Luna leaned in and kissed Alex. They enjoyed the rest of their evening and Alex and Luna even treated Twilight and Fluttershy to dinner after puting the foals to sleep. They had a fun time. They talked, ate, and had a good time in general. Eventually though they had to leave. Since it was so late, Luna offered Twilight and Fluttershy to stay at the castle, which they accepted of course. As Alex and Luna walked back to their room, Alex smiled and kissed Luna deeply.

"You're unusually touchy today."

"Are you complaining?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow, as they stepped into their room.

"Not nessesarily. Just... not tonight... I'm too tired. Besides our room still smells like sex from last night." Luna replied as she got in bed. Alex tried to sleep but he couldn't get that woman that wore the white leather out of his head. There was something wrong with her but he couldn't figure it out.

Location: Saddle Arabia

"I think it's time."

"No... longer."

"How much longer master?"

"A month... a year... a decade... however long it takes."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, it's been awhile so I'm just going to let you read what I have so far for the next chapter. Remember, this is not edited. Also, this chapter is split up into two parts, the first is written by my editor, and the second by me._ Warning: This preview will self-destruct in ten__ days!_**

_The following contains graphic content of graphic nature. Such things include but are not limited to: Sexual content, minor acts of incest, alchohol use, and disturbing text._

Alex blinked, trying to clear the tiredness from his eyes. Although he was used to being up early, he seemed evidently more tired than usual. 'Maybe I should just sleep in today,' he thought.

"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!" The cry reverberated throughout the castle, waking everyone from their slumber. Luna's head flew up from the pillow, looking around frantically. "What's going on?! WHO HURT THEM," she billowed, sticking with her assumption that harm was dealt to her children. Before Alex could calm her, her wings spread and she flew of the bed.

Scrambling off the bed, pulling his clothes on, Alex took note of the large amount of guards gathered around the door. He signaled the guards to follow him whilst still pulling up his pants. 'So much for sleeping in,' he thought. Rushing to Luna's side he looked down into the crib and saw Nova and Eclipse crying. 'Nothing looks wrong with them,' he deducted. "Must've been a nightmare or something," he mumbled, picking up the crying filly and held her close while Luna rocked back and forth, trying to calm down the colt in her hooves.

"Is everything alright," a voice asked nearby. Alex turned and was looking at Celestia, a sea of guards behind her. "Yeah, everything appears to be fine. They just probably had a nightmare or something," he explained. Stepping from the crowd came forth both Fluttershy and Twilight. Both looked exhausted from the sudden wakeup call and running to see what was matter. They overheard the news for then they both started to slowly slink away. As for Celestia and the guards, they all started to return to their normal regime.

Futtershy and Twilight stayed for a while then left when they got hungry. After another hour, however, everyone had a tick. An air of annoyance filled the halls and rooms of the castle. Guards and royals alike were susceptible to an angry fit if pushed, even slightly. The cries of the morning soon devolved into the afternoon. The twins haven't stopped crying. Bewildering to Alex, he figured that they would've stopped due to a strained voice or something along those lines. Soon though, he snapped.

"That's it! I'm going to figure this out," he exclaimed, leaving the twins with Luna. "Follow me. And you, get the maid, and bring her to the dining hall," he told the guards, pointing to the one on the left to verify which of them to go. "Yes your majesty." The guard appointed by Alex left within a second, while the other followed Alex. Within ten minutes, he soon had most of the guards and the maid in the dining hall, soon addressing all of them.

"Guards, I know you're a little on edge right now, but rest assured we are going to figure this out. To help us, we brought the royal maid to help us with this." After being said, Alex turned to the maid. "Now, you have checked the crib correct?" She nodded. "What about their toys or anything else they come in contact with?" At this she seemed to look upward and stare at the ceiling.

"Now that you mention it, one of their toys that they usually play with is missing. I believe that they took it to bed with them." Alex took note of this and remembered that they did carry with them a stuffed ursa Minor teddy bear thing. It was odd that they would be this upset over a toy. 'Then again, they are just children,' he thought to himself. "Alright guards, be on the lookout for a toy that looks like an ursa minor. Maybe then we have a chance of a decent rest of the day. Understood," Alex asked. To respond, the guards simply saluted and left to search the castle. 'I wonder why Celestia hasn't shown up. Probably should go check on her.' With that final thought, Alex proceeded to head to Celestia's room. Within the next few minutes Alex stood at the door the solar princess's room. Three nocks got Alex a rather odd response. The sound of something hitting a wooden object and rushing hooves emanated from the door. Afterwards, Celestia poked her head out from the now ajar door. "Alex, what are you doing here? Where's Ordo?" At that, Alex gave a rather confused look to her. "Wait, what? Why would you be waiting for Ordo?" Celestia soon realized that she let that slip, and now started to look around. "Get in," she quickly said as she hurriedly shoved Alex inside the room.

With a moment to think something to say to reprehend her actions her turned to face her, was instantly silenced by thought due to the sight in front of her. She had her hair stylized and was wearing what could almost really be defined as regal and undeniably beautiful. "Well well well, what's the occasion," Alex tried joking, afterwards getting a look from Celestia like she had an idea. "Hey, um, do you think that this would be too much for a first date these days? It's been a while since I last dated." Alex ultimately pieced together what's going on. "Ordo you son of a bitch you did it!"

"Um, what do you mean 'he did it'," Celestia asked, unaware of what he was talking about. "You really are that clueless," he started, mumbling, "Alright as I'm pretty sure you know already, Ordo has feelings for you. However, I'm not that stupid and have figured this out a while ago. I told him he should go out on a limb and ask you out. Must've taken my advice." This whole entire thing went right over her head, for when Alex looked back, he saw Celestia looking at herself in the mirror, muttering things that any nervous chick would say when preparing for a date. "Alright, well, I'm heading out. Have fun," he began as he slipped out to check on Ordo. 'Probably shitting his pants right now,' he thought, chuckling a bit at such a thought.

Deciding it would be fun to check on him, Alex started to walk toward Ordo's 'little slice of heaven'. Took a while but after about thirty minutes or so, he knocked on the door to Ordo's place. Unlike the encounter with Celestia, he heard nothing until he was face to face with Ordo. "What do you want?"

"And a fine morning to you to douche bag," Alex replied with heavy sarcasm. Looking once more into his face, he didn't see the nervousness that he thought he see on Ordo's face. Instead, all he saw was a blank stare. 'Ok, he's calm about this, what the hell?'

"Mind if I have a moment of your time," he said to Ordo, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. With a shrug, he stepped aside, letting Alex in his humble abode. It was only after walking in and taking a seat did he Alex ask, "So, you're finally going through with it huh?"

"What are you talking about," he asked, not knowing where he was going with the conversation. Alex, noting this, tried another approach he rarely used. Subtlety. "Now, I know we talked about this before, although briefly, but aren't you even a little worried about tonight?" Again, another blank stare, with just a hint of confusion was all that showed on Ordo's face.

"I honestly have no clue where you're getting at," he told him, looking a little aggravated. But, it was Alex's patience that ran out first. "Oh for the love of God, Celestia! You asked her out, you should be getting ready, numbnuts!" Ordo suddenly stood up and went to the front door, opening it and looked at Alex. "Look, how do I say this, oh yeah, get out," he spoke calmly, but looked as if he would get belligerent.

"What the hell man, just because you don't want to say it, doesn't mean it didn't happen,"

"I'M NOT SAYING IT BECAUSE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!"

The room shook, then soon went silent, deadly so. He still stood near the door frame, scowl on his face, waiting for Alex to leave. Instead of choosing to head out, Alex simply stayed his ground. It was uncomfortable, as awkward silences tend to be. Soon though, his choice was not in vein, because Ordo soon left the door frame, closing it in the process, and calmly walked to Alex.

Ordo then sat on one of the chairs, and asked, "You want to explain what that was all about?"

"Ok, to begin with, how have you not pieced together what is going on here? Secondly, Celestia said she was going on a date that you invited her to. And lastly, have you seen the twins' stuffed animal yet? I think everyone is getting used to the noise for now but they aren't going to like it," Alex relied. Ordo looked at him with shock, not expecting what he had said.

"Wait, you actually care about your soldiers?"

"Fuck off."

"So how did this situation develop?"

"Well, all she said was that you asked her out on a date. Didn't really have anything else to say. Too busy getting ready."

With all that out of the way, Ordo started to think of any possible ways this could've been. Then, his face lost a bit of color, and he started to rush to his wardrobe. "Quick, how did she look when she was preparing? Formal, standard, impressionable? Come on, I need to know, now!"

"Whoa, come down. If you figured it out, tell me already." While still looking, Ordo was quick to explain. "Look, I thought I could try a stealth approach, give her a letter. But then it dawned on me that that would be too cowardly, so I abandoned the idea, leaving the note with me in hopes to…well never mind that but the point is, it went missing just this morning. In fact, I was looking for it until you came in."

"Was that why you were all uptight?"

"No, I'm always like that with you around."

"Well, that totally wasn't a below the belt hit," Alex said, backing toward the door. Ordo turned just in time to see Alex reaching toward the door handled. Like a deer in the headlights, he stopped, looking at Ordo. After about ten seconds of staring, Alex nearly ripped the door of its hinges, and bolted away.

With a glance around, he eventually found the princess's room and opened it to find quite the sight. The sun princess was lying down on the bed, hoof between her legs, holding a stuffed animal of some sorts. He couldn't help but gawk a bit, but it cost him with a yell and a blast of magic out the door.

After three painful minutes, he got up, and started thinking about how he could begin to explain what he just saw to Luna. But instead of a solution to that problem, he instead realized a solution to his other problem. He jumped to his feet and knocked on the door, as not to repeat his mistake. "Go away Alex," came Celestia's voice. "Listen, just, let me ask you a question and I'll leave," he negotiated. She opened the door slightly and stared coldly. "Make it quick," she said blandly.

"Where did you get that stuffed animal," he questioned. "I think that would be fare." Celestia's face turned sour with a look of disgust. "You sick man," she said and slammed the door on his face. "And you better not tell anyone of what you saw in there," she screamed.

'That went well,' he thought sarcastically. 'I got to figure this out, and soon.' With a little more enthusiasm, he headed toward his room, and plopped face first into the bed. 'Later.'

It was about eight at night when he decided to get back up, and check on Celestia, and hopefully get some answers. Immediately after leaving, though, he was stopped by a guard. "Your highness, I have urgent news that requires your attention," he stated, looking worried.

"Fine, what is it?"

"It's your kids, they, for lack of a better explanation, have pretty much taken Ordo and her highness, princess Celestia, hostage."

Alex looked confused for a moment, only to laugh in the guards face. "Sir, with all due respect, this is no laughing matter. Luna hasn't been seen either, so, you're our only real hope here."

Calming down from his high, he asked, "alright, where are they? I got to see this." With that out of the way, they quickly left for the dining room. When there, Alex stood at the door frame, amused, as he watched his twins levitate Celestia and Ordo off the ground, trapping them in a bubble of magic. 'Well, either they had the same idea or they have my sense of humor,' he thought with a smile.

"Well, this seems like quite the predicament you got yourselves in. And Ordo, your suite looks nice. Now, what happened?"

"Your kids happened, that's what," exclaimed Ordo. "We were having a nice diner until you're kids showed up. We didn't even do anything, they just looked at us and pouf, here we are."

"Well, I could help. But first, Celestia, that stuffed animal you had, where did you get it?"

She looked bewildered, but answered anyway. "If you really must know, Ordo gave it to me, along with his letter."

"I did," Ordo questioned. Celestia turned to him and asked, "Well, you did, didn't you?"

Alex just laughed again and began to leave when he said,"Ordo, just try not to say anything stupid again." And with that said, he left for Celestia's bedroom. Once in, he saw the stuffed creature and picked it up.

Location: Canterlot/ Equestria

Date October 25, 2531

Alex woke up breathing heavily. He had, as he had had for the last few nights, been having nightmares. These nightmares always consisted of dead loved ones and friends, each of them blaming him for their deaths. The nightmares didn't bother him, Alex had come to terms with said deaths a long time ago. They would happen once every couple years and would usually last about a week or so. Turning onto his side, he saw the dark form of Luna laying next to him. Her back was to him and he could see her wings were twitching slightly. With a slight smile, Alex wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her in close to him, taking comfort in her presence. He felt the softness of her fur and he laid his head on her neck. After several minutes he fell back asleep.

About three hours later, Alex woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. Reaching over, Alex shut it off and looked out the window. There was several more minutes before he and Luna had to get up for real. So, with nothing else to do, he thought about what he was going to do now that he was retired. As an Equestrian Royal Prince, he could technically do anything he wanted, but there was very little Alex actually wanted to do.

"Hey, time to get up." Alex said to Luna as he gently shook her awake. Luna, in response, just turned over and went back to sleep. Sighing, he got out of bed and got dressed. After getting dressed, Alex placed a leather glove over his robotic right hand. With that done, he stepped back over to the bed to see Luna finally getting out of bed and head into the bathroom for a shower.

After she was finished, her horn glowed and she picked up her brush and she began to straighten out her hair as she hummed a nameless song. Luna  
closed her eyes and smiled as she brushed her hair so that it gradually regained its usual appearance.

"You seem unusually happy this morning." Luna heard Alex say.

"You don't remember what tonight is?" Luna asked as she set the brush down and she started to put on her chest plate, eye shadow, and tiara. After  
this Luna unwrapped the bandages around her forehooves and took a look at the still-healing wounds from her attempted suicide several weeks pror.  
Throwing the old bandages away, and then tightly wrapped her forehooves with new ones and then tenderly placed her hoofguards, wincing as the cold  
metal came into contact over the long cuts along her writs.

"Should I?" Alex asked.

"You should." Luna replied as she enterred the twins room.

"Then I regret to inform you I do not."

"It's Nightmare Night!" Luna said as she placed the still sleeping Nova and Eclipse on her back.

"Oh! I thought it was it was our anniversery or your birthday." Alex replied. Luna narrowed her eyes and stared at Alex. She had never wanted  
to hit him more than at that moment. Taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly, Luna opened the door and walked towards the dining hall, the  
twins finally starting to wake up.

Turning her head, Luna saw Nova slowly open her eyes, look around, and then curled back up and buried her head into the back of Luna's neck, all but  
dissapearing under Luna's mane. Luna smiled at this and nuzzled her daughter affectionately. Nova's brother, Eclipse, sat up, and yawned, but unlike his sister, he chose to stay awake instead of going back to sleep.

After eating breakfast, Luna took the twins back to her room for some quality time. Luna, as a princess, didn't have much time to herself, friends, or her family, so she spent a lot of her free time with either Alex, the twins, her sister, or a combination of the three. But since Alex, after retiring, now had to take up the responsibilities of prince and so, freed up more time for Luna, and her sister, Princess Celestia.

Now, with nothing else to do, Luna left the twins to their own devices as she walked back into her own room, removed the chest plate, and kicked off  
her hoof guards. Entering the bathroom, Luna used her magic to turn the faucets in the bath. Luna let the water run as she removed the bandages that were wrapped around her fore hooves, revealing a single long cut on each hoof. It ran from the base of her wrists, and all the way up to her lower forehooves. They were the still healing wounds of her attempted suicide several months earlier. She had tried to kill herself after Alex's plane was shot down and he was preumed dead. But that was something she didn't like to dwell on.

Stepping into the bath, her already tense muscles tightened up and then slowly started to relax as her skin and fur made contact with the steaming hot water. She slowly slid into the bath, letting the hot water relax her. It was very rare that she could spend such time like this alone, so she wanted to make the most of it while she could. Besides, tonight was a night devoted entirely to her, actually it was devoted to Nightmare Moon but you can't have her without Luna, and she wanted to make the most of it.

As she lay in the bath, the steaming water caused her to slowly grow more and more tired. Luna closed her eyes and after several moments, she found herself in the castle's dining room a couple thousand years before.

"What's wrong Lulu?" said the soft voice of Celestia. Luna had been picking at her dinner for the last fifteen minutes, hardly eating anything. Several years before, their father, had died, and then a year later, their mother dissapeared.

"I miss them Tia..." Luna mumbled, barely audible to her sister.

"I do to," Celestia replied as she got up and walked over to her sister. Sitting down next to Luna, Celestia wrapped her forehoof around her little sister. "But they would want us to remember them fondly, and not crying over them."

"Really? Are you sure?" Luna asked, looking up at her sister with wide eyes.

"I'm sure of it." Celestia said with what she hoped was a comforting smile. Luna smiled back and hugged her sister.

"You're my favorite sister Lulu." Celestia told Luna after several minutes of silence.

"I'm your only sister." Luna giggled.

Luna woke up with a start, feeling water splashed on her face. Looking around, she saw that both Nova and Eclipse had gotten into the bathroom and had fallen into the bath, splashing water everywhere. Standing in the doorway was her sister, Princess Celestia, who was laughing.

"Stop it." Luna told the twins, who were trying to empty a bottle of shampoo into the bath. Sitting up, Luna picked up the twins with her magic and set them down on the tiled floor. After taking the drain out of the bath and letting the water drain out, she picked up several towels. One for herself, one for the twins, and the last one was to clean up the mess the twins twins had caused.

"Here," Luna said, annoyed that her privacy and peace had been interupted. Using her magic Luna threw a towel at her older sister. "you can help by cleaning up the water."

"What? Why do I have to?" Celestia asked as Luna started to dry off Nova.

"Because you let them jump into the bath and get water everywhere." Luna replied. "Sit still Nova."

Of the two twins, Nova was probably the risk taker and the inquisitive one, while Eclipse was the quieter and calmer one. Nova would, on occasion, sneak out of their room and go exploring around the castle, while Eclipse was simply content to stay with what he was familiar with.

After Luna was done drying off Nova she moved on to Eclipse, and Nova,  
quite literally, shot off into the bedroom. As Luna dried off Eclipse,  
Celestia started to dry the floor and walls.

"So why did you come and so rudely interupt my privacy?" Luna said as she started to dry off Eclipse's wings.

"It's time to go to Ponyville." Celestia replid calmly, ignoring her sister's hostility. At first Luna had no idea what Celestia was talking about, but then she remembered that tonight was Nightmare Night. A night devoted entirely to her. She smiled at the thought. Tonight was going to be fun.


End file.
